The Princess and the Commoner

Chapter 14: Night Bloom

Wendy, Carla, Erza, and Happy were on their way to the mountains to find the Night Bloom that would save Natsu and Gray's lives. Wendy looked forward and saw the tip of the snow covered mountain, 

"Wendy, do you think that we'll be able to find the plant? Is there some kind of trick to finding it?" Wendy looked behind at Erza and smiled, 

"Yeah. We'll be able to find it. And yes, there is a special trick..." Wendy paused and turned around to smile at Erza, 

"You need to be able to fly." Happy and Carla unfurled their wings, 

"Is that why you asked me to come too?" Wendy looked at Happy and smiled, 

"Yeah. Could you both fly us to the top of the mountain please? And Erza, can you requip out of your armor so that Happy can carry you for longer?" Erza nodded and smiled lightly. Wendy punched the air as Carla picked her up, 

"Let's go guys! Let's get the Night Bloom and save Natsu and Gray!"

"Aye sir!" Happy picked up Erza and they all flew off to the mountain. 

~*~

Natsu coughed violently and turned on his side. He groaned pathetically. Gray had seemed to be getting better, but Natsu just kept getting sicker and sicker. Lucy grabbed the cloth from Natsu's head and soaked it in water again. She pulled it back out of the water and placed it on Natsu's head. She sighed and walked over to Gray to check his temperature,

"106..." Lucy wiped the sweat from her forehead and walked out of the room. She shut the door behind her and walked down the stairs to get a drink from the bar. Lucy slumped into one of the chairs and waited for Mira to come take her order, 

"Hey Lucy. How are you doing? You look pretty tired." Lucy nodded and put her head on the table, 

"Yeah. I didn't get any sleep last night because I was taking care of Natsu and Gray." Mira laughed and Lucy looked up at her, 

"You really care about those two don't you Lucy?" Lucy smiled and looked at her clasped hands, 

"Yeah...I guess I do. They're my friends. Of course I care about them. I would take care of everyone if this happened to them." Lucy looked up at Mira and smiled broadly. Mira smiled back and walked back to the bar. 

~*~

Wendy and Erza got to the top of the mountain with Happy and Carla carrying them. Wendy started looking around and spotted the plant.  

"Carla, Happy! Land there! I found the plant!" Carla and Happy flew to where Wendy pointed and landed near a group of red-orange flowers. Wendy bent down and picked two of them. She stood up and showed them to Erza, Happy, and Carla, 

"We got the Night Blooms!" Erza smiled, relieved, and Happy and Carla cheered in joy. Wendy smiled and they all headed back towards the guild to give Natsu and Gray the Night Blooms. Happy and Carla flew as fast as they could while Wendy smiled, happy that she could be of help to her friends. 

"We'll be there soon Natsu, Gray." 

~*~

Lucy walked back up the stairs and to the room where Natsu and Gray were. She closed the door behind her and looked around. Gray was up and standing by Natsu's bed. Lucy almost smiled before she realized that Gray was shaking Natsu's shoulders and yelling at him to wake up, 

"Gray?" Gray looked over to Lucy with a panicked expression, 

"Lucy, he won't wake up! He was acting like something was happening then he just stopped moving!" Lucy's eyes widened in horror and she ran over to Natsu and looked at his face. It was calm and very pale. 

"No...Natsu! Get up!" Lucy put her head on his chest and waited to hear his heartbeat. And after a few horrible seconds, she heard it. His heartbeat. It was very slow, almost not beating at all. And he was very cold. He didn't have any heat radiating off of him like he usually did. 

"Natsu..." Suddenly, Gray's eyes rolled up inside his head and he collapsed on the ground.

"Gray!" Lucy ran to the other side of the bed and tried to pick Gray up off the ground. She groaned and pulled him into a sitting position, "Gray! Please, you need to wake up!" Lucy tried waking him up but he wouldn't move. Lucy put her head to his chest. His heartbeat was normal. Nothing wrong with it, 

"What's wrong with them?" Wendy burst through the door with a smile on her face. But when she saw Gray on the ground and Lucy there with him, her expression turned to sadness. 

"Lucy?" Lucy pointed at Natsu and looked at Wendy with a pleading voice, 

"Help Natsu! Please, he...he won't last much longer..." Wendy's eyes widened in shock and she ran over to Natsu and put her head to his chest. She pulled back and took some red-orange flowers out of her bag. She took them to the counter and used some kind of magic on them. They turned into a kind of dust that Wendy put into a cup of water. She ran over with the cup and gave it to Natsu. Lucy watched anxiously as Wendy worked to save Natsu's life. Wendy finished pouring the water in Natsu's mouth and once she pulled away, Natsu turned on his side and started coughing violently. Wendy rushed to him and turned him back over on his back. She put her hands over his torso and started using her healing magic on him. Lucy looked closely and saw that Natsu's head wound was starting to bleed again. 

"Wendy?! What's going on?!" Erza rushed in and saw what was going on. She ran over to Lucy and Gray and brought Gray to the bed he was previously on. 

"Erza?" Erza looked over to Lucy and scowled, 

"I recommend that you leave Lucy. Wendy needs her concentration to help the boys." Lucy looked down to the ground then back at Erza, 

"No. I'll stay here and do everything I can to help Gray and Natsu." Erza sighed and looked at Lucy, 

"Are you sure Lucy? You need sleep." Lucy shook her head and smiled, 

"I'll be fine Erza. I really care about Natsu and Gray. I want them to be safe and I want everyone to be back to normal as soon as possible." Erza smiled and sighed, 

"Alright then Lucy. But make sure you get some sleep whenever you can." Lucy smiled and nodded, 

"Ok. I will!" Erza smiled and walked off to help Wendy with Natsu. Lucy looked back at Gray, 

"Right..." Lucy walked over to Gray and grabbed a cloth off of the counter. She soaked it in warm water and put it on Gray's forehead. 

"Erza, can you go get some more bandages for Natsu's head?" Erza nodded and ran out of the room and down the stairs. Lucy looked away from Wendy and started silently crying. She took a deep breath and sat down on one of the chairs. She didn't want to look at Natsu because she knew that she wouldn't want to see what he looked like. Bloody and in pain. That's not something that she wanted to think about, 

"Wendy? Is Natsu going to be ok?" Lucy heard Wendy cough and she turned around. Wendy's hands were away from Natsu and she was holding her stomach. "Wendy? Are you ok?" Wendy shook her head and looked at Lucy with frightened eyes, 

"It wasn't normal poison." She coughed again, "It's dragon poison...and it doesn't have a cure." Wendy's eyes rolled up in her head and she collapsed to the ground. 

"Wendy!" Lucy ran over to Wendy and picked her up, "Please Wendy, you have to wake up!" Lucy set Wendy's small body on Gray's bed and she turned to the door as Erza ran in. She looked around in shock with the bandages in her hands, 

"What's going on?! Why is Wendy sleeping?" Lucy looked at Erza in panic, 

"I-I don't know what to do...Wendy said that it wasn't normal poison that those people shot at Natsu. She said it was Dragon poison..." Lucy started crying, "And she also said that there is no cure for it." Erza's eyes widened in shock and the bandages fell from her hands, 

"There's no way..."